


please don't close your eyes

by demonicneonfishy



Series: february angst-fest (febuwhump 2021) [8]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Drugs, M/M, well. the medical kind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:40:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29308950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonicneonfishy/pseuds/demonicneonfishy
Summary: He’ll just close his eyes for a few minutes. It can't hurt. And he's just so tired.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Series: february angst-fest (febuwhump 2021) [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2141784
Comments: 3
Kudos: 95





	please don't close your eyes

**Author's Note:**

> day 8 of febuwhump 2021  
> prompt: "hey, hey, this is no time to sleep."

The doctor had left an hour ago. But not before attaching at least three new monitors to Nicky and then injecting him with something that made his body feel like lead, exhaustion sinking deep into his bones.

But the lights are still on, and there are no windows, so he can’t tell if she’s left for the night or just waiting to see what they’ll do.

He’s so  _ tired _ . His thoughts are sluggish, and it’s an effort just to keep his eyes open. He can’t tell if it’s the exhaustion of reviving so many times in one day or whatever Kozak had given him. 

“You okay?” Joe asks in Genoese. 

“Tired,” Nicky says. “You?”

“Well, this isn’t exactly my  _ ideal _ situation, but…” He tilts his head to look at Nicky. “At least we’re in the same room this time.”

Joe has a point. They’d been separated before, and… Nicky prefers it when Joe is with him. 

His eyes drift closed as the exhaustion begins to take hold.

“Hey. Hey. This is no time to sleep,” Joe says.

Nicky blinks and forces his eyes open. “I think it’s whatever she gave me. Making it hard to stay awake.” But Joe’s right - he can’t fall asleep, not here, not now. Kozak could come back any minute, or someone else, and he needs to be alert.

“Stay with me,” Joe tells him. 

Nicky blinks again and looks at the ceiling. “I’m trying.”

“I know,” Joe says. “Hey, remember the time we broke into the British Museum?”

“To steal one of Andy’s axes?” Joe nods. “I think you mean the time  _ you  _ and Andy broke into the British Museum.”

“You were there,” Joe points out.

“To  make sure _you_ didn’t get caught .”

“You were still there, weren’t you?”

“Yes, but-”

“Therefore, you also broke into the British Museum.”

Nicky laughs. “Whatever you say, hayati.”

“I fail to see how this is even a debate. You were  _ there _ , breaking into the museum with us, ergo-”

“But I didn’t-” Nicky yawns- “I didn’t  _ actively _ break into the museum. That was all you.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

Nicky can feel his pulse slowing. It’s becoming an effort to breathe, his body feels so  _ heavy _ .

He’ll just close his eyes for a few minutes. It can't hurt. And he's just so tired.

“Nicky, come on,” Joe says. “Stay awake. Stay with me.”

There’s a boulder sitting on his chest. “I don’t know how long I can.” 

Would it really be that bad to let himself slip away for a moment?

“It’ll wear off, right? Come on. Keep talking.”

“I’ll be back,” he says.

Joe keeps talking, but Nicky can’t hear him anymore.

He breathes in, breathes out, and slips away.

**Author's Note:**

> he's, uh. just sleeping. definitely not dead or anything  
> -  
> i'm demonicneonfishy on tumblr too if you wanna come say hi!! (or yell at me for the angst)


End file.
